House-moving truck.



No. 72,52o. Patonted N'v. 4, 9o2.

E. w. GRAGERT.

HOUSE MOVING TRUCK,

(Applietion filed mr. 5. 1900.) 4 i (Nu Model.) 2 sheets sheat I.

Lawww UNITED sm -s ELMER W. GRAGERT, OF VVHITEROCK, SOUTH DAKOTA.

HOUSE-MOVING TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION formng part of Letters Patent No. 712,520, dated November 4, 1902. Application filed March 5, 1900. Serial No. 7,279. (No moleL To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER W. GRAGERT, a citizen ofithe United States,residing at Whiterock, in the county of Roberts and State of South Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvenents i in Building-Moving Trucks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention' has for its especial object` to; provide an improved building-moving truck; and to this end it consists of the novel devices and conbinations of devices herein-` after described, and defined in the clains.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views. a

Figure 1 is a View in side elevation showing one of my improved moving-trucksand a portion of a house or building supported` thereby. Fig. 2 shows the moving-truck-in side elevation, but with one wheel removed. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the truck. Fig. 4 is a detail of a portion of the driving connection; and Fig. 5 is a View in rear elevation showing thecomplete truck.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a portion of a building or house which is supported by the truck, and the numeral 2 indicates a heavy plank or rail which is laid upon the ground 3, and over which .the wheels of the. truck run.

The moving-truck has a pair of wide-faced wheels or rollers a, that are rigidly Secured on a short but very strong aXle a'. Rigidly Secured on the shaft or aXle a' about halfway between the wheels a is a large worngear b, of slightly-less diameter than the said wheels.

The frame of the truck as preferably constructed' is in the` form a heavy casting f, which is provided with depending prongs or legs f@ that straddle the worm-gear b andare provided withopen seats or slots f which straddle and receive the axle a', as best shown in Fig. 2. The prongs f' are extended forward and are again united at their outer ends, as shown` at f At its upper end the frame f is expanded or formed with an ex- PATENT OFFC-E;

mounted in asuitable bearing-plate g se- `fram e-section ft above the worn g the counter-shaft g' is propinion 7r is Secured on the short shaft 76 and i thisshaft 7c is mounted to rotate in suitable `end the shaft 79 is provided with a crank or l the building would usually be moved in the tended hearing-surface f which is adapted for engagement with the under timbers ofj the framework of the house, as shown in Fig. 1, or with other timbers placed beneath` the house in case the latter timbers are used.

For coperation with the worn-gear b a worn or screw g, Secured on a short Vertically-disposed counter-shaft g', is provided. The upper end of this counter-shaft g' is cured on the under forward portion of the The lower end of said counter-shaft is suitablyjournaled in the portion f iof the frame f. At some distance` vided with a beveled wheel 70, and just below this wheel 75 it is also provided with a diametrically-perforated head k', through the"`7 perforations of which the ends of a bar may be passed to operate the screw g.

For cooperation with the wheel 75 a ,beveled bearings and k respectively, on the bearing g and the frame portion f At its outer a handpiece k by means of which` it may be turned. To permit the pinion to be moved So into and out of mesh with the wheel ?c at will, the shaft 76 is provided with a pair of anuular grooves 79 with either one of which a pin 70 which is driven into a suitable seat in the bearing 76 is adapted to engage to hold the '85 saidshaft in either of its two longitudinallyadjusted positions.

It is important to note that the open seats or slots f in the frame-legsf' extend approxii mately parallel to the axis of the shaft g'. This permits the frame f, together with the shaft g', worm g, and other parts' mounted on the frame, to be lifted bodily from the truck- `wheels, axle, and worn-gear. Henc'e the said truck-wheels a may be used together when removed from the frane as a substitute for the ordinary moving-rollers.

`When the truck is applied as shown in Fig.

direction indicated by the arrow marked thereon. Of course any desired number of these trucks may be applied to support the building. Where a building is not too large or too heavy, three of the said trucks will an- IOD o a bar will be applied to the perforatiois of).

*swer the purpose. With very heavy buildings a very much larger number must be cmployed.

Where the building is not too heavy and a suficiently large number of the trucks are employed,the trucks will be preferably moved by Operating the crank Ic and beveled gears k* 70. Howeve', when greater power is required than can be produced by the crank 79 the head k'. When a bar is thus used, the beveled pinion 75 is preferably moved out of mesh with the wheel Ic in the manner pre- Viously described.

Tomove the building in the direction indi cated in Fig. l, the worm g and shaft g' are 'rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow marked on said shaft. This movement iof the worm and shaft will force downward on the forward portion of the worm-gear b,

and the said shaft will react or force upward' at its upper end against the hearing 9 and hence against the eXpanded portion f of the truck-framef. Thus it will be noted that all of ,that force which is exerted on the wormgea-r b tending to advance the truck is caused to react in a lifting strain' on the building which is being moved.

It will of course be understood that the truck above described is capable of considerable modification and that the truck-wheels may be driven in various different ways. In some cases it may be found desira'ble, particularly in moving Very heavy buildings, to lay iron rails and move the trucks over such ra "jin which case it would of course be un- 'drstoodthat the truck-wheels will be properly fianged to adapt them for coperation with tl'e'said rails.

The worm and worm-gear used to propel the moving-truclhs? many advantages over any other drivingmechanism for several reasons, among which haybe mentioned the fact that the truck is alwaysrlocked against movement in either direction; isHencewith these moving-trucks a building may be moved on a. slight incline and will be prevented from; running away, as it will always'be locked Where it is left standing.

. volves feat-ures of Construction capable of 1 incorporation in trucks in general for use for I divers purposes-such, for instance, asautonobiles and street-cars. For instance, the feature of applying and arranging the wormand-screw driving device for the tractionwheels so that the reaction from the propelling force is made to lift on the truck-frame and its load is a feature which would greatly improve automobiles or trucks in general.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows:

1. A moving-truck, comprisingin combination a pair of wheels rigid on a common axle, the worm-gear Secured on said axle between said wheels, the bifurcated frame mounted on said axle and straddling said gear, and the worm or screw coperating with said gear and mounted on said frame, the said worm having a perforated head with which a bar may be engaged to rotate the same, substantially as described.

2. A moving-truck, comprisingin combination the wheels a and worm-gear b secured on the axle a', the framef with legs f' and open seats f straddling the aXle a', and the worm g, the shaft g of which is mounted in the framef, substantially as described.

3. In a moving-truck, the combination with the truck-wheels and worm-gear rigid on a common axle, of the frame having mounted thereon a worm-gear, which frame has open seats engaging the axle and adapting said frame and worm to be lifted from working positions, substantially as described.

4. A moving-truck, comprising in combination a pair of truck-wheels anda worm-gear rigid on a common axle, a supporting-frame mounted on said aXle and provided with an expanded upper portion, a worm or screw mounted on said frame for coperation with said worm-gear, a bevel-gear Secured to the said worm, and a transverse crank-operated shaft having a beVel-pinion engaging said bevel-gear, substantially as described.

5. The combination with the truck-wheels a and worm b Secured on the axle a', of the framef having eXpanded upper portionf legs f', with seats f and projection f the worm g having on its shaft the gear 79 and perforated head id, its shaft being mounted 'in said truck-frame, and the sliding shaft k with crank k and bevel-pinion 10 the latter of which is movable into and out of mesh with said gear 75, substantially as described. In' testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ELMER W. GRAGERT.

Witnesses:

M. M. MOGRQRY,`- F. D. MERCHANT.

ICO 

